US2629446A - Drilling hole packer - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 24, 1953 N. N. FRL-:LING ErAL DRILLING HOLE PACKER Filed NOV. 14, 1949 Patented Feb. 24, 1953 tles'vlle, Oklag', assignors toPhlli'ps"lPetoleum Company, a' corporation of Delaware" 4 Claims.

This invention i'elatesfto'a packing device for sealing-oil a di'illihole'. in another aspect,` it

relates to a novel packing devicef cirf'use in eom'f bination with a dual down hole-type flowv lmeter unit'in oil and/or gaswells Heretofore, considerable clicultyihas been exper'enoeii in isolatingone section of a drill hole from another in orderthatiilow of nuid into'or out -of the strata "adjoining suolisection may be independentl-ymeasured; The use of'pa'ckers'in drill holes is old and many lforms loi" such apparat-us have been used. Many 'ofthe packers previously designed and fusedhave'failed to seal electively one `portion",ofj'the drill hole from another because -of irregularityin"the-'walls of thevr hole. The userof pa'eke/rs which have a resilient Vsealing sleeveis-alsoolci, butin the prior art eifectivemeans for collapsing the packer has `not been provided and in many cases when a packer has been maintained inV an expanded condition for longperioizlsofr time, the resilient sealing sleeve willv adhere'moreor less tightly to the walls of the well,l consequently the removal of the packer without injuryto' the resilient sealsleeve has presented Aa serious problem;

rlhis v`dini-salty falso' increases` operation costs becausea packer'with a fdalna'gei'sealing sleeve cannotbe reset in a"well-without'removing the packerroin 'the well. Our'invention'greatly eduees these problems and cliiiculties."A

An object of our invention is to provide a packinf.,r device which veffectively seals oil/a 'desiredv section "oi a drill holel Another object'of our invention is to provide of our invention will become apparent from the following description taken in Aconjunction with the accompanying drawing in which 4Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a drill hole and showing a dual ilow meter-packer assembly in place in whieh one packer"- is shown partly in section. Figure 2 is a sectional elevationalview of another embodiment of our packer in a collapsed condition. Figure 3 is across sectional view'ofthe packer takeri'bn' th'eline 3 3 of Figure 2.

Referring tothe drawing and: Spesiiieeiiy toY g.

Fig-'ure {lg} "reference numeral H 'identifies y"a "drill y groundftoua "point in" the drill hole'v below the top packerlgvA secondtubing-V member I2a of a siriane; riiariiertiiafr tubing; i2 1 is disposed within tubing "l2 anleiitends from agpoint below the bttompaeker, l 4 .to the .Surface of. the groundE Dsposedjbetweenf the twg'packrers is :a flow meter.

trolof theffluid :How ythroughnietei's l5 and l5 can be effected ii tubes" l2 jandjlza are separate conduitsfthe 'uppeifendjoftubing 12a nia-y terminate at any reas e point abover meter l5.

The owjmetersfieandlflpreferably are of the saine design, or ifllesired,may be of olillerent` design. and theiroperation are seltforth inaco-pending alplicatiom Serialllo.' 105,295', led' July 18, 1949, entitled lilleiwlrn'eter.i

i3 'and Hljof liguijefl are lidentical in construction andv for purposes" simplicity, the construcrheipaekers identified y by :reference numerals tion of 'onlyijonefoftlre patlgers'isfshown .in the drawing.' The 'packen-I3 fF'i'gu e 'l is shown in an expanciedror inflated condition anzi 'under this condition the` upper ,portion 'of ,the ,drill hole is sealed fromfthe'flower'portioby this "packen The packer is eomposdfoflftw resilient and' eX- oandable 'members 2.35 and 38",' These two resilient members 's'h'ould "be made'of frnaterial which is resistentie deterioration mises eonwdiiions of use. For examplewhen this nalierfisnused inan oil well such resilient materialmust bel resistant to the destructiveveideet of `oil.;Certainsynthetic rubbers for synthetic elastomrs arepreferred for oil well use] members 25 and 33`in` theirwundistorted Vform maybe oylindricalin anddene' an inatable elastic 'seali meifigb'erf Theupper'end of the outeriesilentginemb'er Se is providedwwith a raised'portion 3,'lf'whicl'iv ,'tsina groove in the uppeifplatelmeniber" 2l Suche4 ring-groove assembly providesy more surfaceof ycontact'between the "two meinbrsforbro-viding a fluid-p.

tight joint'. 'rhs iippeeiij privi-nef niemeer se may' alsojbe Vprovidedf.,with.a beveled outer sur.-

feces-I vsur;iiiiiiiiig this 'sei/sied suifraeel is I va compression" ring '29Whieh preferably is ofy Theronstruction' oisu'ch'ow meters split ring construction. The compression ring 29 is tightened around this beveled surface upon rotation of a collar member 38. This collar member 38 is threaded to the upper plate member 2| in such a manner that upon rotating the collar member 38 the collar rises with respect to the plate member 2| and a shoulder 3| forces the compression ring 29 tightly against the upper end of the outer resilient member 38 to hold the resilient member 38 firmly in place. Holes 48 in the upper plate member 2| are for insertion of a tool for holding the plate 2| while tightening the collar member 30.

The lower end of the outer resilient member is constructed exactly like its upper end and its assembly is substantially the same as that just described. The lower collar member 30 also has an inner shoulder 3| for exerting pressure against the lower compression ring 29. The lower plate member 22 is illustrated somewhat diierent in form than the corresponding upper plate number 2|. This difference in construction includes the use of a double threaded nut 28 for ease of assembly of the packer. The lower collar member 39 may be tightened by rotating this collar around the double threaded nut 28. Holes 4U in the double threaded nut in the lower plate member permit insertion of a tool for use in screwing the nut 28 on t0 the plate member 22 and for holding this nut-plate assembly While tightening the collar 30.

The inner resilient member is also cylindrical in form and like the outer member 38, it is also provided with a raised section 24 at either end, as illustrated. The raised ends on this member 25 are fitted into a corresponding groove in the upper reduced portion of a lower plate member 22 and in the bottom reduced portion of the upper plate member 2|. Split guide iianges 26 hold the ends of this inner resilient member tightly in place. Each pair of guide flanges is held rmly in position by a pair of bolts 39.

A iiange 32 is provided on each of these split guide flanges 26. The flanges 32 are disposed on the outer surface of the split guide iianges in such a manner to serve as a base for a compression spring 21. This compression spring 21 is of such compressive strength that it maintains the packer in the collapsed position except when the packer is inflated.

The upper plate member 2| is drilled and carries a tube 34. On the upper end of this tube 34 is mounted a reversible type pump' to which is attached a second tube 35. This pump 33 is preferably electrically driven and electrical energy is supplied through lead wires 36 extending from the pump through the tubing I2 to the surface of the ground. Although two wires are shown, one wire would suffice with the circuit being completed using tubing I2 as the ground.

For assembling our packer device we prefer to attach the upper end of the inner resilient member 25 to the upper plate member 2| by placing the split guide iianges 26 into place and inserting the bolts 39. The outer resilient member 38 may then be installed by slipping the raised portion 31 into the groove in the plate member 2| and turning the collar 30 to tighten the compression ring 29.

The next step in the procedure of assembly is to slip the lower compression ring 29, in case it is not a segmental ring, and the lower collar 38 over the outer resilient member 38. The compression spring 21 may then be slipped into place over the upper split guide flanges 28. The lower guide anges 26 may be inserted and the lower plate member 22 is fitted into place with the lower flange 23 being inserted into the lower end of the inner resilient member 25. The raised section 24 assists in holding these two members in place tightly while the two lower split guide anges 26 are positioned and bolts 39 inserted. The double threaded nut 28 may next be screwed around the lower plate member 22 until its upper surface tightly contacts the lower end of the outer resilient member 38. The lower compression ring 29 may then be slipped down into position and tightened by rotation of the lower collar member 30. When compression ring 29 is a segmental ring, its segments may be inserted just prior to positioning and tightening the lower collar 30.

It is to be noted that the upper plate member 2| is firmly attached to the tubing I2 while the lower plate member 22 is intended to t loosely over the tubing I2 so that some space 29 exists between the plate member 22 and the tubing I2. This space 28 is provided so that the lower portion of the packer is able to move freely in a longitudinal direction along the tubing I2. When our device is fully assembled, each packer assembly appears as an elongated cylindrical apparatus, as indicated by Figure 2. The maximum diameter of the packer assembly, is the diameter of the collar member 39 and this diameter will need, of course, to be smaller than the diameter of the drill hole in which the packer is to be used. For sealing off large diameter drill holes, the packers will need to be of larger size than one for use in sealing a small diameter drill hole. However, since the packers are expansible, a packer of given size may be used for sealing of drill holes of various diameters, for example, a packer suitable for sealing off a 6" diameter drill hole may also be used for sealing off an 8" or even larger diameter hole.

In our packing apparatus, the use of the spring 21 provides a positive method for releasing a packer, i. e., for making certain that the expansible member 38 contracts on removal of the iiuid from within the space between members 38 and 25 so that the packer may be removed to another position in the same well or removed from the Well.

When the packer is iniiated, the bottom end of the packer assembly rises up the tubing tending to compress longitudinally the inner resilient member 25. The diameter of the opening through element 22 is such that a space 29 is provided for ease of movement of the lower end of the packer during inflation and deflation. This compression of the resilient member is illustrated in Figure l of the drawing. In order to make certain that during the compression of this resilient member that pinching will not occur between the coils of the spirng, the split guide flanges 25 are provided. These flanges also serve several other purposes. The side flanges 32 serve as seats for the compression spring 21, and the split flanges are held together by bolts 39 to serve as the tightening and holding means for the ends of the inner resilient member 25. The length of these flanges is such that the ends do not touch during the time the packer is inflated.

The reversible fan pump 33, as mentioned hereinbefore, is of the type that iiuid within the Well is pumped through inlet tube 35 and discharged through tube 34 into the space between the two resilient members 25 and 38. During the entire time the packer is to be in an inflated condition, the pump 33 is operating to maintain uid pressure in the packer. The pump is of such a type and design that slippage occurs when the pump is delivering fluid against a certain maximum pressure. When it is desired to deflate and release the packer, the operator may merely stop the pump and allow the pressure to equalize or he may reverse the pump so that the pump aids the withdrawal of fluid from the packer through tube 34 and discharges it into the well through tube 35. The removal of this fluid from the packer coupled with the compressive force of the spring 21 fully deflates the packer and loosens it from the walls of the well so that the packer assembly may be raised or lowered to another position in the well or removed from the well.

The lower end of the packer of Figure 2 is illustrated as being slightly different in construction than the packer shown in Figure 1, the difference being that the lower plate section is composed of plate member 22 and the double threaded ring 2B in place of the single member in Figure 1. Both of these designs are satisfactory, the only dierence being that the design illustrated in Figure 2 is a little easier to assemble. Both the embodiments are given for illustrative purposes.

Figure 3, a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale of the bottom end of our packer, shows the structural relationship of the apparatus parts. The relationship of the -apparatus parts in the top of the packer are similar.

Materials of construction, in general, may be selected from among those available commercially. The resilient member should be made of such materials as will not swell or otherwise deteriorate when in contact with materials encountered in wells. Synthetic rubbers of several types are available for such use and are satisfactory. The metallic parts should be made of such material as will be free from corrosion. The pumps 33 should, of course, preferably be powered by electric motors contained in a fluid-tight case, and the lead wires for these motors, of course, should be well insulated.

Many member parts of our apparatus may have forms different from that illustrated and described. For example, the upper plate member 2| and the lower plate member in doublethreaded nut 28 may possess different Iconfigurations. For example, the double-threaded nut member 28 and the lower plate member 22 may be made as one part in place of two parts, as illustrated. The use of two parts is merely an advantage useful during assembling of the packer. Any type of compression ring 29 and tightening collar 30 may be used, providing the assembly serves the purpose of holding the bot- 6 tom end of the outer resilient member in rigid contact with the plate 22.

The above-described packer apparatus is given for illustrative purposes and should not be regarded as limiting the invention, the scope of which is set forth in the following claims.

Having described our invention, we claim:

l. A packing device for sealing 01T a section of a drill hole comprising, in combination, a tubing adapted to be positioned in a drill hole, a resilient member surrounding and attached at its upper end to said tubing and its lower end free to move with respect to said tubing, a second resilient member within said rst mentioned resilient member and surrounding and attached at its upper end to said tubing and its lower end attached to the movable lower end of said rst mentioned resilient member, a compression spring disposed around said tubing and between said resilient members and operatively attached to said resilient members to maintain the top and the bottom ends thereof separated by -a maximum distance, and means for introducing uid to the space between said sealing members.

2. A packing device for sealing oi a section of a drill hole comprising, in combination, a tubing adapted to be positioned in a drill hole, an inatable cylindrical rst member surrounding said tubing, a cylindrical resilient second member surrounding said tubing and within said first member, a iirst means attached to said tubing for holding the tops of said rst and second mem.- bers rigidly, a second means for attaching the bottom of said rst member to the bottom of `said second member, said second means being movable with respect to said tubing, a compression spring within said first member and surrounding said second member and operably attached to said rst and second means, and means for inilating the space between said rst and second members and for deating said space.

3. The packing device of claim 2 including a spring guide means disposed between said compression spring and said second member.

4. The packing device of claim 1 including a spring guide means between said compression spring and said second resilient member within said first member.

NORMAN N. FRELING. HAROLD L. EDWARDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le oi this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,384,305 Crotto July 12, 1921 1,406,682 Rathbone Feb. 14, 1922 2,503,719 Garrison Apr. l1, 1950

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